The biggest lesson I have learned is simple: A-hole attitudes are not confined to just the American culture.

Of course is not. What happens in "America" can very well happen in France, Mexico, China or anywhere else. But the thing is I think sometimes we're too quick to pat-ourselves-on-our-backs or to dismiss our obvious mistakes with empty superficial excuses or trivial reasons just to make ourselves feel good. When in fact it does nothing to educate ourselves or to learn the lessons of 'our mistakes'. And with enough mistakes made by us and observed by people of the host country that's when reputations and creditbility issues come to be a problem. We have to brave and face the facts and learn from it. Not be ignorant about it

the "dubai incident" was not one that calls for 'an embarrassment of americans', in fact, if you remembered that episode, that cab driver was more than willingly to accept his few short change from chip and kim. No argument ensued, unlike another incident caused by another team(s), no going to police, again unlike some other team(s), no squirming from home viewers while watching that 'incident', unlike the other(s)

Of course is not. What happens in "America" can very well happen in France, Mexico, China or anywhere else. But the thing is I think sometimes we're too quick to pat-ourselves-on-our-backs or to dismiss our obvious mistakes with empty superficial excuses or trivial reasons just to make ourselves feel good. When in fact it does nothing to educate ourselves or to learn the lessons of 'our mistakes'. And with enough mistakes made by us and observed by people of the host country that's when reputations and creditbility issues come to be a problem. We have to brave and face the facts and learn from it. Not be ignorant about it.

Whoa... you are so hard on yourself, mrjunior!
Even though I'm not American, your comments made me feel like defending Americans...
People are people, some are smart, some are stupid. The locals probably have a preconceived notion of America and Americans, and in majority of the world, it's a negative notion. Ex. Arrogant, fat, stupid, etc. (Even though, they have never really met an American.) Also, except in North America and Europe, and maybe Japan people don't really have concepts of racism, sexism, diversity, and tolerance etc and the fact that they are wrong. (Or indivisuals may think that it's wrong to discriminate, but society as a whole allows them to flourish.)
Therefore, when an American goes abroad, he/she are faces these preconceived ideas of the locals. The locals can make it very hard for the Americans during their stay there. When my friend went to northern China for a two-year Peace Corps stint as a teacher at the local college, kids threw sticks at him whenever they saw him, and no other teacher even talked to him outside his class on his first week. He was generally isolated and made to feel like an ass for being white and American, because the Korean volunteers who arrived there at the same time as him were somehow accepted immediately. But through his stay, he eventually became familiar with the locals and made many good friends there once both sides were able to get past their prejudices. However, on a short stay like the contestants' stop in The Amazing Race, that is hard as there is no time to relax and get to know one another. Even though ostensively locals might be polite, the American might sense some underlying hostility from them and feel uncomfortable. Both sides end up being rude to each other, and the American might eventually blow up at the local under pressure. (Furthering the 'bad-tempered American' stereotype even more to the locals.) Sorry for the long post, but my point was that when conflict happens between an American and a local, sometimes the locals are to blame as much as the American. Your post sounded extreme because it felt like you were saying the Americans' attitudes are the source of problem always.

I am a Canadian living in the US. I lived in Canada for thirty years and traveled extensively with the Canadian Navy. I can tell you honestly that Americans are seen in many other countries as arrogant. It is because of incidents like Marshall and Lance yelling at people in other countries to "speak american"! I know how this type of thing makes me feel but I will leave this to you all to debate further.

If there were a television show broadcast with people from other countries racing around the world, I'm sure we'd find an equivalent number of people to cheer for, people to hate, people to laugh at.

The fact is, this issue is more visible because this is the television show we have to critique.

I've traveled extensively through cultures that were allegedly "anti-American" and been treated very well at times and very badly at times. I've actually road those local buses through Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya; they didn't see me as American they saw me as "mzungu" (white person -- though I think there was a derogatory connotation).

In countries where English isn't the first language, the locals won't necessarily know where the TAR racers are from without asking. I lived in Asia for two years and, since I spoke the language but was obviously not Asian, I was frequently asked where I was from. Just catching a cab, you can't differentiate an American from an Australian, Canadian, etc.